Biden-Netanyahu: a first telephone exchange variously interpreted
Joe Biden (l.), Then US Vice President, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem, March 9, 2016. REUTERS / Debbie Hill
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The long-awaited - and even demanded - phone call by the Israelis has finally taken place.
At the end of this interview, the White House and the office of the Prime Minister of the State of Hebrew issued statements detailing their exchanges, but the versions are somewhat divergent.
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Jerusalem
,
Sami Boukhelifa
Americans and Israelis confirm that they have spoken of regional security and of Iran.
During their meeting, Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu also spoke about the recent normalizations of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and the need to continue the peace efforts for more stability in the region.
The devil is in the details: on the American side, there is mention of the Palestinians.
But the latter disappear from the Israeli version.
In a tweet where he appears on the phone, all smiles, Benjamin Netanyahu also throws himself flowers: the American president would have "
congratulated him for his leadership in his management of the coronavirus
".
Israel is indeed considered
the "world champion" in vaccination against Covid-19
.
But this time, it is the American version which seems to omit this detail.
So it took nearly a month for Joe Biden to call Benyamin Netanyahu.
And the ambassador of the Hebrew state to the United Nations had gone so far as to publicly challenge the American president, a week ago on Twitter: "
It might be time to call the closest ally of the United States
".
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Israel
Joe biden
Benjamin Netanyahu